Failures, Denial, and Love
by sastarrett
Summary: Tenten loves Neji, but can't even admit it to herself. But during one eventful day of training, she realizes that admitting was easier than she thought.


**Neji x Tenten**

The kunai flew through the air, heading towards the target, but sadly not dead on. For the fifth time in a row, Tenten's aim was way off, and the kunai bounced off of the edge of the target and fell into the grass. She sighed loudly and obnoxiously, throwing her other kunai into the grass, letting out all of her rage and frustration.

_Why the hell do I suck so much today? _She kept thinking to angrily to herself, even though she knew the exact reason why.

She turned around and looked at her lifelong teammate, Neji, one of the most skilled ninjas in Konoha. He returned her gaze slowly, and a smirk appeared on his face that made Tenten's heart skip a beat, although she pretended it didn't faze her.

"Whoa," he said as he got up off of the bench he was sitting on and made his way over to her. "You really do suck today," as if he was reading her thoughts.

"Shut up." She said angrily. She moved towards him, lifted her fist up into the air and brought it down hard to smack him, but he was too quick and grabbed her wrist before it was even an inch away from touching him. Tenten couldn't help but blush as she realised his warm hand actually felt very nice wrapped around her wrist. _Stop it Tenten, _she thought angrily. _He's just a boy, and you don't like him. He's making you angry. Yeah! Anger! Think ANGRY! _She furrowed her eyebrows and glared at him.

He still wore that silly – but outstandingly adorable – smirk and continued to look at her. "Calm down Tenten, let me help you." He said, slightly amused at her anger.

Still holding on to her wrist, he turned her around so she was facing the target. He then picked up the kunai that was stuck in the ground and folded it into Tenten's hand, and then wrapping his fingers firmly around the kunai and her hand, helping her aim. She gulped and started to sweat, feeling an absurd heat rushing to her cheeks and she couldn't help it. She tried her best to calm her nerves so Neji wouldn't realise how nervous she was at the moment.

Neji stood behind her, and she felt him lower his body so his eyes matched her eye level, and he moved her arm around a bit until it was in the exact location to hit the target directly on spot. He brought her arm straight back and let go. Tenten sighed with relief and her redness and nervousness faded away. But when she felt his hot breath right in her ear, it all came back in no time.

"Now," he murmured, an inch away from her ear. "Throw the knife straight forward, and give it all your strength. But don't change your aim."

Tenten nodded, and got all her calmness back. She focused on the target ahead, drew her arm back a little further, and drilled the kunai straight for the target. She watched as it whipped through the air and landed directly in the center of the target.

"Yes!" she screamed triumphantly. "I finally did it!" She turned to look at Neji, who wore his cute smirk again.

"You wouldn't have done it without me, you know." He said bluntly, not bothering to praise her for her moment.

Tenten's face changed again to an angry glare, and she stared that Hyuuga boy down.

Neji's face didn't change. He stared back and her and simply stated; "Now you have to teach me something."

Tenten held back her blush this time, and then returned his smirk, wondering if he thought hers was as cute as she thought his was. _Why do I keep thinking about him like this?! _She slapped herself mentally, but her expression as she looked at Neji didn't change.

"What do I need to teach you?" she added jokingly. "How to run, because you cannot beat me in a race!" she looked at him mischievously, and then regretted that entire sentence. _I freaking HATE running, why did I say that?_

Neji closed his eyes and shook his head. "Prove to me that you can beat me in a race." He said, looking up at her. He glanced up across the field they were standing in. There was a downwards hill quite a few yards down. He pointed to it.

"I'll race you to the top of that slope down there," he said simply, and looked at Tenten, the competition raging in his eyes.

Tenten stared at the target, and glanced back at Neji. "Done," she said. "Prepare to be defeated!"

They stood beside each other, and readied themselves.

"Ready," spoke Neji. "GO!"

Tenten flung herself out further into the field, eyes on the finish line. She was a fast runner, but her stamina wasn't very high. _I have to prove to him that I can do better than him at something._ She suddenly felt a stitch in her side and tried her best to ignore it. _Don't slow down, don't slow down._

She was about halfway there now, and she had no idea where Neji was, but she knew she couldn't look back. _Neji_ she thought, and began to think of how he helped her aim her kunai, and his hand on her hand, his body so close…

_STOP IT TENTEN _she kept telling herself. And she barely noticed that Neji had passed her. _NO! _She screamed in her head, but her feelings of anger slowly turned into admiration as she gazed at the muscular body running swiftly in front of her. _Did he think like this when he was in front of me? _She damn well hoped so.

They were super close to the finish line now, and Tenten couldn't stop staring and admiring the beauty that this Hyuuga boy really was. His long brown hair flying behind him, the determination that he had, the muscles, perfectly toned arms and legs. He was…beautiful, as beautiful as a boy could get. Even though she thought this a lot – pretty much on a regular basis – she still couldn't admit to herself that she actually had a crush on Neji. The other girls in her village, and even Temari from the sand and lady Tsunade, all thought she and Neji were meant to be. Tenten just didn't want to admit it.

Her thoughts were so focused on him, that she had no idea he had beaten her, and he was standing at the top of the hill waiting for her. He still had the smirk, but this time he had an almost loving look in his eyes for the beautiful girl running towards him.

Tenten was a foot away from him when she snapped back to reality and realised that she was again beaten by Neji, and even worse, she was running at full speed and wasn't far away enough to keep herself from falling into Neji's arms.

Even Neji wasn't prepared for the sudden force that fell into him, and he lost balance. Together they toppled over each other and rolled down the slope that lied out from behind their finish line. Tenten's thoughts bounced around with her body, and she had no idea what exactly had happened, or what to even think.

Finally, they reached flat ground, and they were tangled together in a heap. Tenten's buns were very loose, and would come out any second. Neji's head was dazed as it had hit a ground a number of times, and his vision was a little blurred. But once it cleared, he couldn't help but blush.

Tenten untangled her arms from under his body and finally realised what was happening. She was lying on top of a shocked/embarrassed Neji, her head resting against his chest. She lifted the upper half of her body and looked down, nervousness flooding back to her. Her buns came undone, and her long brown hair, strikingly similar to Neji's, drooped over his face.

Neji stared at his beautiful teammate. While embracing her scent, he slowly brought up his hand to put her hair behind her ear, out of his face, and gently stroked her smooth cheek. Tenten was positive that her face had to be redder than a tomato, but that didn't make Neji stop stroking it.

"Tenten…" he whispered, lifting his other hand to the back of her head, and slowly lowering it down to meet his lips.

The kiss was soft, and nerve-racking to Tenten. Her stomach churned with nervousness, and excitement, because of the fact that Neji Hyuuga, the muscular boy that she had been admiring earlier, was kissing her. She closed her eyes tight and embraced this beautiful moment. She felt his grip on her head tighten, as he hardened his kiss, and she just fell into him, placing her hands in his hair, stroking his soft, brown locks.

What seemed like hours later, they pulled apart and stared at each other, both of them blushing, but this time not afraid for the other to know. After stroking her hair for a little longer, Neji's neutral mouth slowly faded into a smirk.

"Get off me," he laughed, his face almost breaking into a real smile, as he lightly pushed Tenten off of himself.

They stood up, brushed themselves off, and studied each other's eyes once more. They then laced their fingers together, and started walking back to the village. The sun was setting, creating the Konoha sky a beautiful array of colors, and creating a perfect atmosphere for a perfect moment.


End file.
